\u201cI\u2019m a good man with a good heart,\u201d John Mayer insists at the outset of \u201cShadow Days,\u201d the first of many, many attempts to move past the musical, public, and relationship personas that have characterized the maligned singer-songwriter.<\/p>\n
Born And Raised <\/i>is, quite simply, an album of apology, growing up, accepting responsibility, and looking for something deeper in life than the next female conquest, the next bong hit, the next good time. Given that John Mayer\u2019s entire life seemed to revolve around those three things for the last decade, his turnaround is remarkable.<\/p>\n
Those still mad at Mayer for Battle Studies <\/i>and the absolute nadirs of his career \u2013 the Playboy interview and the song \u201cWho Says\u201d \u2013 may see this new side of him as posturing. I\u2019m inclined to believe otherwise, simply because the Mayer of Continuum <\/i>proved that there was more under the surface. Born And Raised <\/i>is the sound of a man who realizes how he has treated women and how he has lived life; it\u2019s simple, confessional, and personal without being maudlin. <\/p>\n
Consider this examination of a failed relationship on \u201cShadow Days:\u201d \u201cI never meant her harm \/ But that doesn\u2019t mean I didn\u2019t make it hard to carry on \/ It sucks to be honest \/ And it hurts to be real,\u201d which culminates in the discovery that \u201cMy shadow days are over now.\u201d Or look at the regret of the title track: \u201cI saw my friend, he\u2019s in my head, and he said \/ You don\u2019t remember me, do you \/ Then all at once it gets hard to take \/ It gets hard to fake what I won\u2019t be\u2026And it\u2019s such a waste to grow up lonely.\u201d <\/p>\n
When Mayer isn\u2019t apologetic, he yearns for moving on. Themes include making something with one\u2019s life on \u201cSpeak For Me\u201d (\u201cWhat a drag to say \/ At least I still have yesterday \/ Show me something I can be\u201d), a new approach to relationships on \u201cLove Is A Verb,\u201d and domesticity-meets-commitment on \u201cA Face To Call Home\u201d (\u201cSo good you didn\u2019t see \/ The nervous wreck I used to be \/ You\u2019d never know a man could feel so small \/ And you never look at me \/ Like I\u2019m a liability\u201d).<\/p>\n
The opening cut \u201cQueen Of California\u201d sets the stage for where this self-discovery takes place, name-checking Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and 1971. That era of music heavily influences the songwriting here; David Crosby and Graham Nash even guest star on the title track, and the beautiful, stately \u201cIf I Ever Get Around To Living\u201d is a great update on anything Steven Stills ever released. A slight country influence is evident here as well, but it only colors the songs, never overpowers them.<\/p>\n
A few quirks exist to remind you that this is still John Mayer, most notably the story-song \u201cWalt Grace\u2019s Submarine Test\u201d and the jaunty \u201cSomething Like Olivia,\u201d the latter an ode to a woman (reportedly actress Olivia Wilde). The Mayer of 2008 would have written this as a sexual come-on, but the Mayer of now writes it as a longing love letter from afar: \u201cThere\u2019s only one man in this world who \/ Gets to sleep with her by his side\u2026No, I\u2019m not trying to steal no love away from one man \/ But if Olivia were at my door \/ I\u2019d have to say I\u2019d let her in.\u201d<\/p>\n
None of the songs have the pop overtones of Mayer\u2019s early singles or the smarmy charm of something like \u201cWaiting For The World To Change.\u201d The 12 tracks here are muted, dusty, and take their time to burrow in to your consciousness, revealing a little more on each listen, although it never quite reaches the heights of Continuum<\/i>. But when Mayer gets to the honest, heartfelt \u201cA Face To Call Home,\u201d you\u2019re almost embarrassed to ever listen to \u201cYour Body Is A Wonderland\u201d ever again. Our boy has grown up, musically and personally, and it\u2019s a pleasure to witness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":31138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6814],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-42824","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-john-mayer","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42824"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42824"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}